koukai_kirai: (109 in the sky)
Toshizou Hijikata ♦ 土方 歳三 ([personal profile] koukai_kirai) wrote in [community profile] xavier_institute_ooc 2014-08-28 12:55 pm (UTC)

Did he miss it?

He thought back to the Tama River, kept low in its bed by all the floodgates, glimmering in the summer sun. He thought of the bustle of the city, the glow of the seedy bars and clubs, the simple familiar flavors that were so hard to find here, the constant shifts of Tokyo fashion. The temples, the gardens, the sense that, beneath the hyper-modern facade of the city, hidden away somewhere, lay the beating heart of an old, old culture.

He thought, too, of an old adage: The nail that sticks out will be hammered down. He'd always stuck out, ever since he was a loud and ambitious and willful child, and part of him had always felt trapped by the threat of that mindset -- had wanted to make himself known, and to Hell with the looks old people on the street gave him and the young people's jealous gossip. It was freeing, to be somewhere where different didn't mean useless.

Going back to Japan on his own didn't feel right, but he supposed staying here on his own didn't really, either.

"At times. It's somewhat complicated."

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